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Tag: Nigerian Communications Commission

  • NCC uncovers 88 illegal centres for SIM registration

    The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has uncovered 88 illegal centres for SIM card registrations across the country and would soon carry out a clamp down on them.

    Its Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Mr. Sunday Dare who disclosed this said the NCC is determined to stop the menace of improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards in the country.

    He said arrangements are being made to carry out raids on the identified locations. “Eighty-eight (88) locations have been identified nationwide as hubs for dealing in Pre-registration of SIM cards and other forms of dirty registration”, he added.

    Mr. Dare said in a statement that the Commission’s collaboration with the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to end the dangerous practice recently resulted in the raid of Central Market, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State and the arrest of three persons.

    The Commissioner said the fight against pre-registration of SIM cards has also received another boost as a meeting held on September 3, 2018 between the Commission, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) continue to yield results.

    According to him, MTN Nigeria recently delisted 179 agents who were engaged in pre-registration of SIM cards, saying the move was part of the resolution reached at the September meeting and called on other operators to follow the same path.

    “In compliance with the resolutions reached at the meeting between the Commission, MNOs and NSCDC held on September 3, 2018, the Commission is in receipt of an Intelligence Report/Rapid Letter from MTN dated November 2, 2018.

    “MTN reported that One Hundred and Seventy-Nine (179) registration agents were delisted nationwide for their involvement in pre-registration of SIM cards and dirty registration. In addition to this, devices were retrieved and registrations carried out by such agents were deactivated,” Mr. Dare said.

    While commending MTN for complying with the resolution, NCC called on other MNOs to submit intelligence and monthly raid reports as agreed at the meeting.

    The Commission also urged the network operators to engage in aggressive sensitisation campaign on the danger of dealing in any business that has to do with pre-registration of SIM cards.

  • NCC donates 70 e-pads to FEDPOFFA School

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given out 70 e-pads to students of the Federal Polytechnic Offa (FEDPOFFA) International Secondary School.

    Chairman, Board of the School, Mrs. Anthonia Alawaye and the Principal, Mr. Ajala, received the e-pads on behalf of the School.

    The Rector, Dr. Lateef Olatunji, congratulated the Board and Principal and praised the teachers for imparting valuable knowledge into the students.

    “What you are receiving from us cannot commensurate your hard labour on these children, but we assure you of our continuous support and we pray that you are all blessed in your endeavors,” he said.

    Olatunji urged the students to put the gadgets into maximum use in order to improve their performances in next year’s Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). He advised them to make the most of the e-pads as all past questions of public examinations had been installed in them.

    While appreciating the NCC for the gifts, He instructed that the gadgets be given to the students for their immediate use.

    On his part, Ajala promised that the School would continue to make the Polytechnic proud and that, with the gesture from the NCC, its performance in future public examinations would be outstanding.

    He also thanked the Rector and his management team for their tireless support for the School; he also commended the teachers for doing a very laudable job on the students.

    Mrs. Alawaye, prayed the pupils would perform well in their examinations. She also thanked the NCC for counting the school worthy of benefitting.  She assured the Commission of the judicious use of the items.

  • NCC seeks academia collaboration to develop ICT sector

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is seeking the collaboration of the academia to grow the industry and impact positively on not only the subscribers but also the environment.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof Garba Dambatta, who spoke during the roundtable with the academia in Lagos, said the advancement of technology across several spheres of human endeavor has created new industries, opportunities, new knowledge areas and challenges. This, he said, has increased the speed at which alignment between the different stakeholders in the economy needed to take place to ensure no aspect of development is left lagging.

    He said: “Traditionally, as we all know, regulation lags innovation. Thus, in the fast moving technology ecosystem, the need for regulators to raise their game to ensure regulations are relevant to existing realities is pertinent. This will ensure that the maximum benefit in innovation can be harnessed, and the potential risks mitigated on a timely basis.

    “In general, the academia is a key driver of innovation in all spheres of human endeavours. But in specific terms, the ideas, inventions and improvements that emanate from the academia are required by industry for improved efficiencies and productivity. With these in mind, the regulator as a critical component of any ecosystem aims to ensure all stakeholders are protected and the industry nurtured for maximum benefit to business and society.”

    According to Dambatta, the growth of new technologies such as internet of things (loT), Artificial Intelligence (Al), Cloud Computing, increased delivery of speed by various broadband technologies such as 4G and 5G technologies, advancement in processor and other electronics technologies have led to huge opportunities and risks. This, he said, has led to “the need for collaboration between academia, industry and regulators to ensure these technologies can be properly harnessed and standards built in such a way that is beneficial to all stakeholders”.

    The potential opportunities and important aspects that should be considered by all stakeholders are critical aspects that academia are invited to research and proffer pragmatic solutions, he added.

    “The future is something we should be ready for, and adapt to, or we should see the future as something which we can create. I want to look at three areas which are fundamental to the future.

    Firstly, I want to briefly look at innovation in terms of new ideas in ICT. Secondly, I want to look at industry growth in terms of building capabilities and stronger industry systems through a collaborative, academia-industry-led approach. I will also want to look at sustainability. For technology to be sustainable, it should imply that using it does not have any long-term adverse effect on the environment. And thirdly, perhaps the most important for this forum, I want to look at the role of the regulator in promoting synergy between the academia and the industry,” he said.

    According to him, innovation is seen as a way to breaking away from the old and embracing new technologies. “Innovate or Die” is a slogan used by many business enterprises. In perspective, innovation to the telcos can be a linear machine to deliver what they deliver best.  Every telecom provider will aspire to transform into that new agile future -looking telecom firm. “Recognising this increasing phenomenon, the Commission has, among other things, directed funds to encourage innovation by boosting research and development (R&D) in universities across the country. I am glad to say that our universities are making good progress in ICT R&D,’ he said.

    He said the NCC strives to ensure the engagement of all stakeholders to improve efficiency and impact consumers positively.

    The telecoms industry for example has enormous potential for enabling environmental, social and economic benefits through broadband connectivity, he posited, adding that as it continues to experience exponential traffic growth, network energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue.

    “In the last two decades, telecoms has emerged as a key driver of economic and social development in an increasingly knowledge intensive global scenario. It is said that “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it”. To sustain the standard of living of an ever increasing Nigerian population, a strategy for continual development in telecoms technology needs to be given attention and timely research in that area be conducted by the academia that will result in minimal impact on the environment. ICT can bring about social benefit as well as economic development. Research contributes towards industry and sustainable technological development should not occur exclusively by means of efforts developed in labs or publication of papers.

    “We need to collaborate with an emphasis on determination on development of prototypes that meet the standards required by the industry.

    Academia is challenged to study the impact of various practices and issues peculiar to Nigerian operating environment on the operational efficiency and service delivery capability and performance by telecoms industry players for example to subscribers. It will surely be an interesting read to see the new insights this may provide,” Dambatta said.

  • FUTA urges NCC to push service quality, accurate data

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been urged to compel global service for mobile (GSM) communication service providers to improve the quality of service (QoS) on their networks so that subscribers could get the full value for the money spent on buying airtime.

    The Commission was also advised to keep data about the industry so that should the need arise, its regulator would be a ready data repertoire which other organisations could fall back upon.

    Speaking in Lagos at the weekend during the Roundtable with Academia, Industry and other Stakeholders in the Southwest Regions organised by the NCC at the University of Lagos, the Ag, Head, Computer Engineering Department, School of Engineering Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, Dr, Folasade M. Dahunsi, lamented that efforts to get data about the industry from the regulator was to no avail.

    She said in the absence of data from the regulator, what the university community did was to develop an application which was deployed to gauge the QoS of the telcos within the community.

    According to her, the data collated from the app showed that telecoms subscribers were far from enjoying the minimal acceptable service quality required.

    She also urged the regulator to urgently address the issue of local roaming of subscriber identity module (SIM) card so that whenever a subscriber gets to an environment that is not fully covered by a carrier, such a customer could roam so that he or she would not be completely shut out of the global world of information communications technology.

    Responding, one of the panelists,  Head, Regulatory Affairs at ntel, Olatunbosun Hambolu, said part of the challenges facing the telcos was access to foreign exchange to procure the requisite equipment to expand network capacity.

    He said all the equipment needed in the industry are sourced offshore, lamenting that when the naira/dollar exchange rate is put into consideration, then, it is plenty of problem for the telcos.

  • Teleology takes over 9mobile

    After a long delay,preferred bidder forNigeria’s fourth largest carrier 9mobile, Teleology Holdings Limited, yesterday finally took over telco.

    This is coming 11 months after the company made it to the top five companies making a bid to take over the telecommunications company.

    9mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria was taken over in July 2017 following a N541 billion debt overhang it owed a consortium of local lenders.

    According to a statement endorsed by one of the new non-executive directors of the board, Mohammed Edewor, Teleology, said it “is pleased to announce the constitution of a new Board of Directors for Nigeria’s multi-award-winning telecommunication company, 9mobile.

    This follows “the successful completion of the tenure of the former Board appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and in fulfillment of the consequential transfer of final ownership to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited.

    “We thank all out-going members of the Board for helping to shepherd 9mobile through the critical transition phase it has passed through since July 2017 and wish them the very best in their future assignments.

    “For us, the composition of the new Board of Directors is another significant milestone, and this follows the issuance of final approval of no objection by the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to the effect that the technical and financial bids Teleology submitted for 9mobile met and satisfied all the regulatory requirements.

    “This is indeed the dawn of a new era in the evolution of the 9mobile brand in the Nigerian market.”

    According to the statement, the new board has Nasiru Ado Bayero as Chairman; Nigerian Communications Commission -Acting Managing; Abdulrahman Ado -Executive Director; Asega Aliga- Non Executive Director; Adrian Wood-Non Executive Director; and Winston Ndubueze Udeh also a Non Executive Director.

    Bayero appreciated the telco’s employees and subscribers, who he said should be prepared for best-in-class services forthwith.

    He said: “As we begin this new epochal phase, we wish to thank all the employees who built this viable business.

    “Our debt of gratitude also goes to our subscribers even as we assure them to get ready for real best-in-class additional value for their relationship with the 9mobile brand.

    “Without you, there could not have been a 9mobile business for us to invest in today. We will justify your confidence in our brand by making significant investments that will improve the value you get for using 9mobile.”

    The CBN, in collaboration with the NCC, had in July 2017 appointed a Board of Directors chaired by Dr. Joseph Nnanna, the Deputy Governor at the CBN, to oversee the affairs of the company pending the completion of regulatory due diligence of the bid documents submitted by Teleology and 16 others for its acquisition. The bid process was superintended by Barclays Africa. But with the emergence of the Board, the long process for the acquisition of 9mobile has reached a definitive end marking the beginning of a new era for the telecommunication company.Teleology eventually won the final bid, ahead of Airtel, Globacom, Smile, Helios.

  • Value added services providers reject NCC’s auto-renewal ban

    Value Added Service (VAS) providers licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have rejected the ban imposed by the regulator on auto-renewal of their services.

    According to them, hardline regulatory stance would do nothing but hurt the inflow of investment into the country. They also said the ban has left their accounts with zero balance, a situation that has also led many of them to close shops and axe workers.

    But the NCC has insisted that the ban is not open to negotiation because it is the icing on the cake of forced subscription. It added that most of the VAS providers were crooks, who reaped from where they did not sow.

    Speaking in Lagos at the first Annual Nigeria Value Added Service Stakeholders forum, CEO Mobility Arts, George Ager, said forced subscription of subscribers remained a major challenge in the industry, adding that, however, that crooks involved in the practice are well known. He, however, said taking away auto-renewal would kill the sector which is already in pains.

    Also speaking, Funmobile CEO, Yahaya Maibe, said auto-renewal is a legitimate business, which and should be allowed to stand. He cited over the top (OTT) service providers that are not regulated yet rake a huge chunk of revenue from the country. Maibe said instead of taking further steps that would stifle the industry, the regulator should implement a bail-out package for the service providers.

    Another contributor who identified himself simply as Richard, said autocratic regulation stifles business growth. He likened the NCC decision of closing down the Third Mainland bridge because some unscrupulous elements were going to transport contraband to the city through the bridge.

    Responding, Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Efosa Idehen, said forced subscription and auto renewal are two different things, arguing that the latter precipitates and lubricates the former.

    He stressed the need for ettical growth of the VAS industry stressing that it is critical for optimising the enormous potential of the telecoms sector. He accused some operators in the industry of embarking on outright pilfering of subscribers cash, adding that the protection of the consumers remained one of the pillars upon which the regulator established.

    A chieftain of the umbrella body of VAS, Association of Value Added Services Providers of Nigeria (WAPAN), Samuel Aderinola, blamed the operators for the prevalence of rogue value added services on the network.

    According to him, the telcos are supposed to provide the infrastructure that would effectively weed out  all rogue messages in the system.

    There was, however, a general consensus that there was need for self-regulation among the members of WASPAN. They agreed that there were bad elements within the VAS segment of the industry.

  • ‘Digital transformation key to economic development’

    To the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, for the country to take its rightful place, digital transformation should play a key role. In this interview with LUCAS AJANAKU, he speaks about Nigeria’s participation at the ITU Telecom World conference in South Africa, and strategies to drive investment in the country.

    The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) has been at the forefront of wooing foreign investors, especially in the telecoms sector. What is government doing to attract these investors through tax incentives?

    The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) document of the Federal Government clearly shows government’s willingness to create an enabling business environment for investors to thrive in Nigeria. For example, in the ERGP document, there is a pioneer status given to investors, who are coming in to invest in any sector of the economy, including the telecoms sector. The pioneer status incentive is 30 per cent, which means a reduction of Company Income Tax by as much as 30 per cent. This is in addition to other incentives like the relaxation of monetary policy of the government, access to foreign exchange, fiscal policy, reduction and waivers on custom duties, among others like the Executive Orders 5 and 6 of the ease of doing business.

    All these are measures put in place by the government to make business in Nigeria very easy and profitable for willing investors, and we at the NCC will continue to encourage investors to come to Nigeria and invest in the telecoms sector, and our efforts are beginning to yield good results. The telecoms space is big enough to accommodate more investors and we will continue to encourage Foreign Direct investments (FDI) in Nigeria.

    Last year, the NCC gave an update on telecoms investment in Nigeria, which was put at $70 billion. What is the contribution of the telecoms sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

    I must make it clear that we get statistics about telecoms contribution to GDP from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).  The figure we gave last year about telecoms investment in the country was $70 billion, and the figure was what the NBS released as at last year. Although the bureau has not released statistics for this year, I can confidently say that the total telecoms investment in Nigeria has surpassed $70 billion. This is true, based on reliable information we have that telecoms investments, which include FDI and portfolio investment, has currently reached 10.5 per cent, up from 9.15 per cent in the previous year. The NBS quarterly report puts the contribution of telecoms to GDP at $5 billion per quarter, which is 2 per cent rise per quarter. This, of course, is a steady quarterly growth and when you calculate the four quarters in the last one year after the $70 billion figure was released, it becomes clear that telecoms contribution to GDP has surpassed $70 billion in the last one year, and this is a significant contribution to the Nigerian economy.

    In the last one year, Nigeria recorded a steady growth in voice and data services offering, including broadband penetration and all these put together in monetary terms, clearly shows the immense contribution of the telecoms sector to the Nigerian economy.

    What are some of the opportunities for additional foreign investors that may be interested in the nation’s telecoms sector?

    There are lots of opportunities for investors in the county’s digital transmission system including microwave, satellite and optic fibre, such as submarine cable communications, as well as digital exchanges for both wired and wireless lines. We also have investment opportunities in our billing systems and data communications networks, broadband and integrated service digital network (ISDN).

    Nigeria needed 120,000km metropolitan optic fibre coverage for ubiquitous network connections nationwide, but the country has only 38,000km coverage now, which I see as an investment opportunity beckoning on both foreign and local investors to take advantage of, and invest in the country.

    The NCC is intensely focused on bringing efficient, qualitative and affordable ICT platforms within the reach of individuals and corporate bodies through the implementation of our 8-point agenda, the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the ICT Roadmap to drive synergies, which would expand opportunities for disruptive technology innovation and global competitiveness in Nigeria.

    What are some of the regulatory measures taken by the NCC to deepen broadband penetration in the country?

    Several regulatory measures have been put in place by the NCC to further grow broadband penetration in the country. The Commission had earlier assigned 2.3GHz licence to Bitflux Consortium and six of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and two slots to Openskys, and six slots are still available for assignment.

    Nigeria had a mere five per cent broadband penetration in 2012, but now we have attained 22 per cent and hope to hit the 30 per cent recommended by National Broadband Plan by December 2018, through various initiatives, including granting subsidies to Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) licencees, and for spectrum trading. In line with our initiatives to encourage investment for InfraCos’ roll out, the Commission created subsidy provisions in its 2017 and 2018 budgets for the InfraCos, which is expected to be disbursed by piecemeal to the InfraCos as the deployment of their infrastructure progresses. We have, however, assured all the licencees that the subsidy is based on the implementation and milestones of their rollout obligations

    As part of the flexible approach to regulatory management and constant stakeholders’ engagement, the Commission introduced spectrum trading only a few months ago. This is to enable holders of such spectrum that is not in use to transfer, lease or share such spectrum with those who may have a need for it.  We see this as a cutting edge regulatory initiative to safeguard the use of this scarce national resource. The NCC undertook these regulatory steps in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) of 2013-2018, where it is anticipated that 30 per cent broadband penetration will be attained by the end of 2018.

    At the opening ceremony of the ITU Telecom World 2018, the  South African President, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, highlighted three pillars on which his country is driving digital transformation. What are the strategies for Nigeria in driving its digital transformation?

    Yes, I heard clearly, the South African president’s speech at the opening ceremony of ITU Telecom World 2018 conference, when he listed the three pillars on which his country is driving digital transformation, to include Women, Youths and SMEs. The truth is that every county has its own strategy and I subscribe to the position of his Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on the country’s drive in digital transformation for a digital economy. The Nigerian strategy is similar to the South African strategy as enumerated by their president, but we have additional strategies beyond that of South Africa.

    In Nigeria, we have identified about five strategies of the digital ecosystem, but to successfully achieve these strategies in Nigeria, we need government enabling polices and the right institutions that will enhance digital transformation in Nigeria, because digital transformation is key to Nigeria’s development. As part of the Nigerian strategy for digital transformation, we have considered the youths, women and SMEs in our policy. In all of these, the role of the NCC in the digital transformation of the country is key and the NCC is currently giving access to telecommunication services in the underserved and unserved areas of the country, more so in a situation where only 50 per cent of Nigerian households have access to telecommunication services. Again, we are building the critical mass adoption and use of telecommunications services in order to achieve the right broadband internet penetration. We have a National Broadband Plan which the NCC is at the forefront of pushing it to ensure that we have a deeper broadband penetration for Nigeria. We have currently achieved 22 per cent broadband penetration in the country, which is above the minimum target of achieving 30 per cent broadband penetration, with plans to achieve the maximum target by the end of this year. So, the NCC is also targeting massive capacity building in schools and colleges, including tertiary institutions and communities outside the schools. The other aspect of the digital transformation for Nigeria is in the area of telecoms infrastructure. In order to boost the rollout of telecoms infrastructure across the country, we decided to zone the country into seven zones and licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) in all the seven zones. The role of the InfraCos is to provide broadband infrastructure that will facilitate faster rollout of broadband service across the country. All these initiatives are targeted at enhancing digital transformation in the country.

    Are there incentives that will motivate the InfraCos to roll out broadband infrastructure much faster?

    To ensure rapid rollout of broadband infrastructure across the country, the NCC provided some palliatives in the form of incentives for all InfraCos that are willing to roll out in rural communities, including underserved and unserved communities. Aside the incentives, the InfraCos licence was made very cheap to encourage InfraCos. The NCC is not interested in making money out of InfraCos, but to encourage them to roll out broadband infrastructure in all nooks and crannies of the country. Beyond women, youths and SMEs, we also have plans for the physically challenged persons and we give them opportunities to belong to the country’s digital transformation process.

    What is your view about government’s position on MTN, where the telecoms company was asked to return money it repatriated from the country between 2007 and 2015 and to pay tax arrears within the same period, totaling $10.134b?

    Government is an institution whose actions are guided by law. For example, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is a government institution which regulates the financial sector of the economy, while the Federal Inland Revenue Services is another government institution that regulates the tax sector of the economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) regulates the telecoms sector of the Nigerian economy. What is happening between MTN and the Nigerian government is based of regulatory issues in their different sectors. Although the issue is currently centred on financial and tax regulation, but there are public fears and outcry that the action taken so far by the government could cause ripple effect on other sectors of the economy because telecommunications as it were, which is the core business of MTN, cuts across all sectors of the Nigerian economy. As telecoms regulator, we are aware that there is no sector of the Nigerian economy that does not enjoy the services of telecoms sector, and we are concerned about the current MTN issue with the government because MTN Nigeria is a licensed operator under the supervision of the NCC. But I will like to say that although the alleged breach is purely on financials and taxes, but the NCC as a regulator of the telecoms sector, is doing everything possible to ensure quick and amicable resolution of the matter. We are already intervening, just the same way we intervened in the previous matters concerning MTN Nigeria. As a regulator with human face, we will always provide guidance to all our licensed operators, both big and small, during crisis of any sort. MTN has been in touch with us over the recent matter and we have mapped out strategies to address the issue, which I will not like to divulge to the media at the moment.

  • NCC orders telcos to give 14-day window to customers

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has notified telecom service providers on users’ experiences regarding quality of service, poor reception, automatic data roll over, wrong billings and deductions, among other issues.

    According to NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, sanctions would be meted out to service providers who continue to fail in delivering improve services to the telecom consumers at the appropriate time.

    Prof Danbatta, who made the remarks during the “NCC Day” at the on-going 13th Edition of Abuja International Trade Fair, said the Commission has directed all service providers to give 14-day window to subscribers to enable them roll over their unused data even if they do not renew.

    Represented by Head of Public Relations, Mr Reuben Muoka, the NCC Boss also said “statistics continue to show positive movement in the provision of services to the citizenry with Internet penetration standing at over 126 million subscribers in August 2018, while phone subscription stands at over 160 million at the same period.

    “With broadband penetration of 21 per cent, Nigeria’s social media space has continued to thrive and our citizens are enjoying access to modern ways of interactions in the cyberspace”.

    ” On the quality of service issue, including poor reception, wrong billings and deductions, automatic data roll over among other issues, we have put the service providers on special notice about our current monitoring of user experience and will call them to account in due course.

    “Where the service provider continues to fail to improve services to the detriment of the consumers, the Commission will apply appropriate regulatory actions and sanctions against such service provider,” Danbatta said.

    He continued: “On this issue of data roll over, the Commission has directed all the service providers to give 14-day window to the subscribers to enable them roll over their unused data, even if they do not renew on the expiration data.

    “In other words, this will stop the current practice where subscriber lose their entire unused data if they fail to renew on the date of the expiration of the current subscription.

    “We are currently addressing the issue of Call Masking and SIM Boxing, where international calls are made to bear local numbers, thereby bringing confusion to bear on the subscribers. We have already issued sanctions to some erring operators.

    “Pre-registered SIM card has continued to attract attention as our enforcement unit has intensified efforts aimed at arresting perpetrators of this crime across the country. We call on all consumers of telecom services to be wary of the negative consequences of this phenomenon and report anybody found to be involved in distribution and sales of pre-registered SIM Cards.

    “We have continued to use the mass media to create awareness about these consumer centric solutions, and also enlighten consumers that telecommunications mast and towers do not cause any health hazards as a lot of people think.”

  • NCC woos investors with 30% income tax reduction

    Regulator says sector attracts $5b quarterly FDI

     

    Nigeria’s telecoms sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday said prospective investors into the telecoms sector would only need to pay 30 per cent of income tax, among other mouth-watering incentives rolled out by the Federal Government.

    The regulator also said the telecoms sector which attracted $70 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, has been adding between $4 billion and $5billoon quarterly in FDI since the beginning of this year.

    Its Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, who unveiled the packages to prospective investors who thronged the Nigeria Pavilion during its opening at the ongoing International Telecoms Union (ITU) Telecom World in Durban, South Africa,  said investors stood to enjoy pioneer status as well as import duty waivers on essential equipment needed for them to setup businesses in the telecoms sector.

    He said the Executive Order of the Federal Government laid special emphasis on transparency in the discharge of official responsibility.

    According to Prof Dambatta, with a huge youthful population ever ready to communicate, investors needed not fear about quick returns on investment (RoI). He said the steady growth of telecoms sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now at 10.5 per cent bore eloquent testimony to resilience of the sector.  He said the non-oil sector has been growing the GDP in line with Federal Government’s Economic diversification blueprint, adding the telecoms sector has been taking the lead in this area.

    He said opportunities for investment are available in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry, stating while voice appears not to be doing badly, data is the next investment frontier.

    Read Also: NCC, CBN may clampdown on electronic fraudsters

    He said ITU forum usually provideo opportunity to learn about new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and other new technologies.

    He said: “We also come to share our experiences and take home new ideas in global best practices that will assist us to strengthen our regulatory processes and interventions that will make the accelerated growth of telecommunications to dovetail into a better and stronger economy.

    “In our modest quest to bridge the digital divide, the board of the NCC has put in place initiatives to fast track internet access and taking services to several unserved and underserved areas of Nigeria

    “Although we have 162.3million active subscribers on our various networks, we at NCC believe there is much left to be done in terms of improvement of Quality of Service (QoS), more access to as many people as possible.

    “We must admit that the QoS is not where we want it to be yet, but with time and increase of infrastructure deployment, we should be there soonest than later,”Dambatta said.

    He recalled that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the ICT Roadmap in the country, stressing that driving broadband penetration for accelerated economic growth formed the kernel of the roadmap.

    “With a population of 180million, active subscriber base of over 160million and internet penetration of over 100 million, Nigeria remains an attractive country for investors who crave for adequate RoIs.

    “While we celebrate the seemingly success story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put in place incentives for Infrastructure Companies (Infracos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration as quickly as possible.

    “This is part of the roadmap to take Nigeria to the next level under the Open Access Model template.  So far, six Infraco licences have been issued to cover Lagos, Northeast, Northwest, South South, Southwest and Southeast zones of the country. Arrangements are underway to re-licence the North Central zone,” he said.

    The Commission had earlier assigned 2.3GHz licence to Bitflux Consortium and six of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and two slots to Openskys.  Six slots are still available for assignment.

    “We undertook these regulatory steps in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP of 2013-2018) where it is anticipated that 30 per cent penetration will be attained, by the turn of 2018,” he said.

    Nigeria had a mere five per cent penetration of broadband in 2012 but now has 22 per cent and hopes to hit the 30 per cent prescribed by NBP (2013 – 2018) by December, 2018 through various initiatives including granting subsidies to Infraco licencees, Spectrum Trading among others.

    He said in line with the Commission’s initiatives to encourage investors for Infracos to roll out, it has created provisions in its 2017 and 2018 budgets as subsidies to the Infracos.

    “This is essentially to be disbursed piecemeal to the InfraCos as the deployment of their infrastructure progresses.  “We have assured all the licencees that this subsidy is based on the implementation/milestones of their roll out obligations,” he said.

    He told the investors thatb there are also opportunities for investors in digital transmission system including microwave, satellite and optic fibre; submarine cable communications; digital exchanges for both wired and wireless lines; billing systems; data communications networks; broadband and  Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN).

    Nigeria, he said needs 120,000km metropolitan optic fibre coverage for ubiquitous network connections nationwide.  With only 38,000km coverage now, this area also beckons on both foreign and local investors, he said.

  • Internet users in Nigeria hit 103.6 million in July – NCC

    Internet users in Nigeria increased marginally to 103.6 million in July, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)  has said.

    The NCC disclosed this on Wednesday in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for July posted on its website.

    According to the data, Airtel, MTN and Globacom gained more internet subscribers during the month under review while 9mobile was the biggest loser.

    The data also showed that overall internet users increased to 103,671,778 in July from 102,805,122 in June, showing an increase of 866,656.

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    The breakdown also revealed that Globacom gained the most with 574,821 new internet users, increasing its subscription in July to 27,146,075, up from 26,571,254  in June.

    It further showed that 9mobile lost 218,086 internet users in July, decreasing its subscription to 10,367,260, as against June when it recorded 10,585,346.

    NCC indicated that MTN also gained 134,171  new users in the month under review, increasing its subscription to 39,071,670, in July as against 38,937,473  in June

    It said that Airtel gained 375,754  new internet users in July, totalling  27,086,773 as against 26,711,049 in June.

     

    NAN